


Tales and Blunders From a Very Confused Robot

by SpireofBone



Series: FH AU [4]
Category: Warframe
Genre: Angst, Everyone Needs A Hug, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Niphit learns about human things, good thing Niphit has five arms, more tags over time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:46:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23544865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpireofBone/pseuds/SpireofBone
Summary: Just because she's a Sentient, doesn't mean she's intelligent. the amount of regrettable decisions that Niphit has made is incredible, but has also put her with a bunch of angsty space teens who are, either unintentionally or intentionally, responsible for her family's death. fun.Alt summary: Local idiot robot looks for free hugs and gets kidnapped by Space-child's poor life choices club.
Series: FH AU [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1593244
Comments: 11
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

Niphit wondered how she ended up here. Seriously, how’d she end up in the room she was currently in, up-side-down, stuffed in a bag. Not like Niphit was hard to stuff in a bag, she was much smaller than any sentient, whether it was a drone or not, should be. But how did the bag become her current location? Last she remembered, the arid, red sands of Mars was her next destination. That makes it sound like she was in control of the situation, Niphit was plummeting to the surface of the nearest planet because she didn’t see that incoming archwing attack. Niphit assessed her current damage. Not as bad as it could be. Sure, one of her arms had snapped off, the sensors in her right foot had gon completely dead, and her internal systems where practically screaming for her to find a biomass terminal, but at least she was alive. Niphit felt the bag she was in get picked up. Whoever was carrying it had to be bigger than her, and also probably stronger, and most likely an aphid, as scary as those were, and-

“Quit screaming.” someone said. Niphit analyzed the voice signals, running them through a databank to try identifying them.

“A-aphid Mae! Nice to meet you!” Niphit stammered from her bag. The Orokin databanks said very little good things about Me.

“And of course you know my name.” Mae sighed. “Just stay quiet, and you won’t die as horribly.”

In a few minutes, the bag Niphit was in was turned over and emptied, dropping Niphit onto a cold metal floor. Her Systems shrieked in protest, and red sparked up from her wounds. Impact, at least that was one adaptation.

“What the hell is this?” another voice, Niphit analyzed it. Aphid Flower Dax, a ridiculous amount of titles, but she supposed that it got the point across.

“A sentient. And not a drone either.” Mae spoke.”I want to see what it knows.” Niphit tried to stand as Mae spoke, her feet were unsteady, and the right one rolled limply in its socket.

“It’s tiny.” Flower Said. “are you sure that this isn’t a misplaced Amalgam, or maybe one of Alad’s pet projects, or even a Chimara nock-off?” Flower asked. Niphit heard Flower’s Warframe somewhere behind her, growling. To bad warframe calls were impossible to trace. Mae Walked over to Niphit, placing her palm on Niphit’s head. It was surprisingly calming, The Aphid wasn’t touching any damaged areas, and Mae’s hand was cool. Niphit couldn’t see Mae’s face since she was wearing a cloak, but Mae also didn’t seem bothered. Until the hand started to heat, even burn. Niphit realized it was void energy and pulled away. Flower cursed and Mae jumped. According to her systems, the damage wasn’t too bad. She just lost her adaptation, that was all. Until Niphit was hit with the blunt end of a sword, that is. The impact sent the little sentient flying until she lay crumpled in a heap. 

“Now, answer my question truthfully, do you have any info about the whereabouts of Erra or Hunhow?” Mae asked, walking over to Niphit.

“...no.” Niphit whimpered. She hurt, her systems had decided that she was ignoring them.

“Are there more of you?” 

“No.” Niphit felt Flower’s glare. “I’m too quiet.”

“Great. Just wonderful!” Flower said. Her warframe, some kind of early Mirage, slipped out from behind the shadows, carrying a sword. Niphit must be in a Dojo of sorts. Niphit didn’t feel like searching up the Warframe.

“Can’t you do anything?” Mae practically shouted.

“I’m an engineer…” Niphit trailed off. Her body hurt so much. She couldn’t think.

“Are you… crying?” Mae asked. The little Sentient was making a sort of sniffling noise. Niphit didn’t respond. Mae noticed how bad Niphit’s damage actually was. The little thing was covered in red circuits, and one of her previous six arms had come clean out of the socket. She had deer-like legs, but one hoove was twisted at an odd angle, and the other looked worn down, practically all red. Mae was pretty sure the red meant that a sentient was rebuilding.

“Better to end it now.” Flower sighed. The Mirage, Shale, took a step forward. 

“no, I think we went to hard on her.” Mae looked at the shuddering sentient again. “Like, way too hard. I shouldn’t have tried burning her.”

“So what are we going to do with it, leave it here until it dies or calls someone bigger?” Flower was getting impatient, and so was her Warframe.

“No,” Mae smiles, “we are going to defect it. By force if necessary.” Flower sighed.

“This is stupid.”

“No, it isn’t.”

"I’m not going to help you. If it snaps and decides that you’d make a great floormat, don’t come crying to me.” Flower left in a huff. Shale glanced at Mae and Niphit, then followed her. Once they were gone, Mae knelt by the crumpled sentient.

“I’m sorry” She whispered “if I can help, let me know. I thought you were someone else.” that was a lie. But she had to make it trust her somehow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mae introduces Niphit to the most passive person she can think of and Niphit learns what a hug is. Afterward, Niphit googles her friends.

Niphit didn’t notice anything about her surroundings for a while, more focused on rebuilding then anything else. Sometimes, she noted Mae sitting next to her. Mostly, Niphit noticed when Mae would talk. Mae told stories, little ones, about other tenno and warframes in the clan. Or larger ones, about battles she had fought. Niphit listened intently, it seemed like Mae didn’t know she was listening.

“Do you miss home?” this was the first time Mae had directly asked Niphit a question. Niphit shook her head.

“Tau’s boring. And a hot mess. Like, a giant, flaming mess. No leader, just a butch of sentients trying to survive while a handful preach about ‘the good old days’.”

“Huh. I thought you’d be missing it more since you’re here against your own will.”

“Heh, I’d think that too.” Niphit paused, “but other than our… rocky introduction, this place isn’t that bad.”

Mae scrutinized the sentient, who hadn’t moved in two weeks.

“You’re awfully talkative today,” Mae remarked. Niphit cocked her head

“I don’t feel as bad.”

“Well then, there’s someone I want you to meet,” Mae responded. Before Niphit could reply, Mae was up and out of the room. Niphit pulled herself up, tucking her legs underneath her. She inspected her damaged heel, before quickly grabbing the hoove and shoveing it back into place with a  _ pop _ . Her systems told her that it would be repaired in about two days. Niphit examined the rest of herself. There wasn’t much else that self-healing couldn’t take care of. Except for the arm. She’d just have to live with that for now, the other five could take a little more work. Mae came back into the room, being tailed by a Volt. the Volt was a combination of blues, pinks, and creams. He also favored one leg. Niphit noted several scars, but a long, blue one twisted from the Volt’s shoulder all the way to his hip. A de-plateing scar. The Volt used to be a Prime. Niphit tried noting any other features about the Volt, since a warframe could change there color at will, it was a horrible way of identification. 

“Niphit, meet Solar!” Mae said excitedly. Solar, who must be the Volt, waved politely. 

“Hello!” Niphit called back. They were on the other side of the room. “How’d you learn my name?” 

“Shale told me. Shale’s Flower’s warframe, the one that-”

“Yes, that one.” Niphit interrupted Mae. Shale, that was vaguely familiar.

“Anyway, this is Solar. He’s a feral, but also unarmed.” as Mae spoke, the Volt calmly walked over to Niphit. She always pictured tenno-less warframes as a bit more twitchy, but he seemed calm. Solar inspected Niphit, tapping her lightly on the end of the face. 

“ _ Do you know Warframe?”  _ Solar chirped. She had learned warframe, supposing it might be useful on the field one day, with the Stalker being a thing and all. Niphit nodded. “ _ Well, that’s convenient.”  _ Solar made a weird choking noise, which Niphit guessed was a laugh.

“So, you’re Solar?” Niphit asked.

“ _ Well, who else would I be?”  _ Solar made the choaking noise again. “ _ You’re Niphit. Shale was scared of you. You look like a deer crossed with a fox, how’d that happen?” _

Niphit felt her sloped head, did she look like a fox? “Shale was scared? She seemed more… angry. Very angry.” Niphit carefully felt where the sword had hit her. It was still healing.

“ _ She didn’t hurt you, did she?”  _ Solar asked, suddenly a lot more concerned. He sat down in front of her, putting his hand on Niphit’s shoulder. Niphit jumps from the contact but realizes that Solar means no harm. “ _ Apologies on her behalf, she doesn't understand how to react to fear without violence. It’s something we all struggle with.”  _ Niphit looked Solar over again.

“It’s not bad,” Niphit said.

“Hey Solar! I know it’s exciting to meet someone new, but could you hurry up? O wanted you for that mission!” Mae called from her post.

“ _ Ah, well, stay safe, heal quickly, and don’t let Shale get to you.”  _ Solar wrapped both his arms around Niphit quickly, before releasing. Niphit thought for a few seconds that he was going to pick her up. “ _ Don’t worry, hugs don’t hurt people,”  _ Solar said as he walked back over to Mae. Niphit stayed still. She must admit, Solar was warm. And she should learn human physical interactions. And it made her feel better. Looking up, Mae and Solar had already left the room.

Niphit decided to do a bit more digging. Mostly, with Solar. She thought that he’d be hard to trace since he might have changed his name since the old war. And there was always less documentation of ferals. But surprisingly, he had a complete entry. Solar was an early Volt Prime, who served the Orokin. About halfway through the old war, Solar’s performance had taken a turn for the worse. Surprisingly, Solar managed to keep his Aphid out of it, instead, taking the full punishment himself. Being stripped of his golden armor. Niphit didn’t keep reading. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this came out a tad later then I'd like, but hey, this chapter was fun to write!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niphit calls home. it devolves into chaos from there.

Viets from Solar became more frequent, while Mae’s died down. Niphit didn’t notice at first, but then Solar mentioned it.  
“Really? I didn’t notice.” Niphit said, attention immediately focused on the warframe.  
“She has… business. Keeping a sentient is quite hard to do.” Solar paused, “especially when she forgets to let the Overlord of this clan know.”  
“I’d think she’d remember that.”  
Solar laughed. “you think too highly of her. She’s surprisingly forgetful.”  
“Soo… did she tell the leader here?”  
“No. Mae avoided telling Flick completely. Shale told him, Honestly, I can’t blame her. One day I’ll figure out what happened to that old thing.”  
“His name’s Flick?” Solar nodded.  
“And before you search him up, Flick’s already erased himself from history.”  
“Well then, I’ll have to make a good impression on him.”  
“Careful,” Solar said as he stood up. Niphit realized that it was time for him to go. “Mae had to talk Flick into keeping me. Best off trying to appeal to his warframe.”  
Niphit watched Solar leave. A twisting feeling rising in her theoretical gut. So many things could go wrong. She was nervous, so, so nervous. How could she calm down? Being all twitchy wasn’t good for impressions. Back at the Tau system, she’d just call her older sister, Tyan. but this wasn’t the Tau system, and Tyan wasn’t a system away anymore. Tyan was in the Origin system, and probably busy. But then again, Tyan was a true and proper sentient with multiple bodys and ridiculously good multi-tasking. But if Niphit did call, Tyan would know her location. Niphit reminded herself that it had only been a few months since she disappeared from Adezu’s sight. He might not have told Tyan. well, he’d probably tell Tyan if Tyan asked, but Adezu didn’t really care about her. And anyway, she could just hide her location. It wasn’t that hard. Niphit gathered herself, masked her location, and started the transmission.  
“Hi, Tyan!” Niphit spoke, her heart fell a little as it took a few moments for Tyan to respond.  
“Niphit, where in the stars did you go?” Tyan snapped. Niphit flinched, Tyan was loud. Also, she knew.  
“Don’t worry, I’m fine.”  
“You know that Adezu is supposed to protect you. That’s the safest place for you.”  
“I can fend for myself.”  
“You don’t look like you can! What the hell happened to you? You know that you’re delicate, and only have one body.”  
“I’m fine now. It was just a little crash, and I’m doing good now! I need to talk to you though.”  
“But you aren't fine! I bet the Aphids attacked you. Let me know which ones, I’ll kill them.”  
“N-no, how’d you know I’m in the Origin system?”  
“Caus’ you weren’t anywhere else and there were signs of someone using the Solar Rail. please, let me help you.”  
“I can do fine on my own!” Niphit snapped, supprised by her volume “I just can’t stand being around Adezu and his ‘greater good’ this and ‘orders from Hunhow’ that any longer. And Flix is able to do stuff on his own, and I don’t even want to hurt the tenno! They’re kids!” Niphit stopped, the image of Tyan flickered.  
“They aren't kids. They are dangerous. Bent and twisted into horrific monsters. The warframes are better, I’m not trying to kill those, but the Aphids can burn. They killed our parents, remember?” Tyan spoke. Her voice was cold. Niphit had only heard her talk like that one or two times, and it was almost never good when she did.  
“I don’t remember it…” Niphit trailed off. Tyan’s tense silence seemed a little less tense.  
“You were barely even a core. Mom brought you to Origin during the old war as a core, in a protective case. She and dad hoped that you could grow up there after the war ended. When mom died, I had to find you, and keep track of you. Then, dad died and Adezu reached out to me.” Tyan paused, deep in the memory. “He told me he’d keep track of you back at Tau, so I sent you back. The damage from crossing the gap twice is why you’re so..” Tyan trailed off.  
“Quiet. I’m small and messed up and Adezu doesn't like me cause’ I’m not as quick or gullible as Flix. and you’re scared to let me live because you think I’m going to die or get hurt or I might realize that it’s bad everywhere and everyone has a point in hating each other or find out what happened to the first warframes or I might downright turn against you. But I’m my own being and protecting me this much is stupid! So what if I almost die? I’ll come out of this fine.” Niphit's outburst left the two in silence  
Tyan broke the silence. “Niphit, I’m less concerned about your size and more about how-”  
“Just shut up!” Niphit snapped. She turned off the transmission. She could use one of Solar’s hugs.

Footsteps came in a few minutes later. Niphit didn’t move or look up.  
“Are you ok?” chirped a warframe. She hadn’t met this one before. Niphit didn’t respond. “Solar and Shale told me about you. I heard some of your conversation.”  
“Who are you?” Niphit said flatly.  
“I’m Tin.” The warframe chirped. Niphit glanced at Tin. Tin was a gender-bent Titania, and also very short. “I… don’t have the best relationship with my family ether.” Tin watched her for a little longer. “It’s ok if you don’t want to talk to me. I understand.” Tin politely started to wave, before Niphit hugged him. He squeaked a bit but returned the hug.  
“Thank you,” Niphit said to the little warframe, once she let him go. He seemed mildly undignified but fine.  
“It’s fine. I help when I can if I can.” Tin handed Niphit a Silverwing pin. “If you ever need me again, whether it be a pointy floof or a pesky enemy who needs fewer limbs, use this.” Tin seemingly disappeared as quickly as he appeared, flying off in a flurry of blues, purples, and reds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *slaps Niphit* this baby can fit so much angst in it.
> 
> also, this fic will get lighter from here! it will probably only be a few more chapters long, but I got more stuff with these characters planned!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niphit gets interviewed and gets a lab.

It was about three a day since Niphit’s confrontation with Tyan when Flick finally showed up. Mae followed behind him, talking quickly about how good Niphit had been. A distance behind both of them, the strange Mirage from earlier slinked along.   
“So you’re Mae’s pet project?” Flick said. The tenno was slightly taller then Mae, with a collection of golden bells and ribbons tied to his outfit. Flick grabbed Niphit’s snout, tilting her head to the side to get a better look at the pair of tiny blades mounted to the bottom.  
“Y-yes, I’m Niphit.” she stammered, glancing at the Mirage, who must be Shale. Shale was off to the side, glaring.  
“So I’ve heard. According to stolen intel, you should have more blades then this.” Flick stated. “Although I don’t expect many.” Niphit carefully unfolded her first set of arms, and a set of claws flickered out. Flick made a clicking noise. He glanced over them.  
“See? Harmless.” Mae said. Niphit noticed that she let out a breath.  
“Barely.” Shale huffed. Niphit noticed some sort of translator clipped to its neck. “Still could be a threat. It could leak a location, or kill someone. Those razors are sharp.”  
“Ignore Shale, she’s irrational, as always,” Mae said quickly.  
“Tenno or warframe?” Flick asked cooly. “We can’t have a weak link. And both of them are liabilities, considering how we got them.” Shale spluttered, and Mae froze up.  
“They’re both fine! Shale’s just not always as perky.”  
“Having a Dax is a danger in itself.” Flick glared at Mae, “the unstable Warframes are also dangerous. I’m not even surprised by the sentient at this point.” Flick went back to inspecting Niphit. The various wounds from crashing and being tossed around were starting to heal up, so she must look a bit better. “What can you do?”  
“I am an engineer trained to specialize in traps.” Niphit responded, “I know a bit of human behavior, too. But it’s mostly gathered from the Orokin, who aren't the greatest at acting natural.”  
“Intriguing. Do you know about Warframe behavior?” Flick pondered.  
Niphit nodded. “A bit. relating to long-term ferals, of course.”  
Flick grinned. “You might be of use, then.”  
“But I thought you didn’t want to track down Spring’s frames?” Mae snapped. “You seemed very unenthused about Solar, anyways.”  
“I am very interested in getting Spring’s frames back.” Flick said in a clod tone. “They are impressive in pack tactics, considering how lax Spring was. Solar just so happens to be practically dead on his feet. It was im-” Flick was cut off.  
“Oh, quit sounding like the Orokin and cut to the point. Are we keeping the scrap bucket or is it getting the axe?” Shale snapped. “Besides, insulting Solar is just plain rude.”  
“Yes, we are keeping Niphit.” Flick sighed. “And careful what comes out of your mouth, or you might be the one getting ‘the axe’. We will find you a proper room so you don’t have to keep this area filled. I believe this place has an empty lab?” Flick glanced at Mae, who nodded. “Well then, my job is done.”  
And just like that, Flick left. Shale waited a few moments before leaving in a huff. Mae bounce.   
“You’re in! I can’t wait to get you to your new lab, and show you more members of the clan!”  
“Why did Flick not like Shale or Solar?”   
Mae paused. “Because he thinks that they are a risk to keep around. To him, recently Void-ridden warframes are twitchy. He also thinks that Shale is going to betray us, but I think that Shale’s just used to her words being ignored.”  
“He won’t get rid of Solar, right?”  
Mae laughed. “Of course not. It’s my station, even if it operates under his clan. Solar lives here and no one is going to hurt him again.” Niphit paused at Mae’s word choice, then shaking the concern away. Warframes where tough. “Anyways, O and Estue are gonna throw a fit if I don’t go soon.” Mae waved as she left. Niphit waved back and begain pondering what her lab would look like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the short chapter, next one is going to be longer!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niphit makes a printer and chats with Solar, then meets a new person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU/headcanon bit that will be explored further but should be said now:  
> Each Operator has a unique Man In The Wall, which are normally called Void Demons by warframes. The power and sometimes personality of said Demon are determined by the Operator's own power/unresolved emotions. Once they gain enough power, they can be seen by other people. Also, Operators can deal with them in different ways, some working with them, while others absolutely despise them.

It had been a few days since Niphit moved into her lab. It was not much of a lab and more of an abandoned room, but it got the job done. Niphit had been given some materials to work with, so that was what she was doing. Sitting on the floor, Niphit tinkered with some circuits. There was a foundry, but a foundry was useless without blueprints. Niphit had tried drawing blueprints manually, but those were difficult to get the Foundry to accept. She could prosses them internally, but couldn't print or port them. So she had to make a converter. Niphit put the set of circuits she was working on to the side, feeding a sheet of standard grid-paper into it. Niphit focused, giving the tiny printer a basic blueprint. The blueprint was of a basic snare trap, but it was the only simple one on hand.

“ _ Hey Niphit,” _ Solar chirped. Niphit jumped a little.

“You startled me!” Niphit glanced back to her work. The printer was printing.

_ “Oh, my apologies.”  _ Solar responded, “ _ I wanted to see how you’re doing.” _

“I’m doing fine. Trying to get this foundry to work is a massive pain considering tech differences, though.”

“ _ That’s funny. Those are supposed to be universal.” _

“Ha. more like ‘works in one system but even then won’t accept most directions’.”

_ “I’ve never used one for anything more than a gun, but when my mate used to use it for more than that, there was screaming.”  _ Solar chuckled. “ _ Not like he was good at tech, but still” _

“I wouldn’t blame him. This is one of the most stubborn Foundrys I’ve worked with.” Niphit said as she took the newly printed blueprint. She placed it on the foundry, selected the blueprint she had just inserted, and watched it load.

“ _ Is it working?”  _ the Volt asked. Niphit stared at the loading symbol.

“I think it did.” 

“ _ Well, that’s good,”  _ Solar remarked. Niphit watched the Foundry begin crafting.

“What’s a short-term feral?” Niphit asked. “I someone call you one, and I don’t know what that is.”

Solar sighed.  _ “It’s a feral warframe who spends only a few years at a time without void energy. As of now, I’m still on The Lotus’ list of active warframes, meaning that I operate under the assumption that I’ll find another Operator soon.” _

Niphit twitched. “Who’s ‘The Lotus’? I’ve heard her get mentioned a lot.”

“ _ You don’t know?”  _ Solar was genuinely surprised. “ _ I suppose she could have defected before you where born, but The Lotus used to be a sentient named Natah. She’s still a sentient, of course, but she’s with the tenno now.” _

“She must have been part of Hunhow’s family then! That’s the only royal family without members left in the Tau System. I’d think Tenno opinion of her would be low, considering my welcome”

Solar nodded. “ _ Huh. really, the warframes are more split about whether Lotus is good or not. The Operators don’t care, as long as they have someone who is even a little friendly.”  _

“That’s kinda sad.” Niphit pondered. “If Tenno just gets attached to people for something as simple as a bit of sympathy.”

“ _ It really is. And that’s why Mae got attached to you. Although, I think you fall into the exact same trap.” _

“My attachments are not built spontaneously.”

“ _ You warmed up to me and Mae pretty quickly for being nice.” _

“Well, my intel suggests that you were a nice person.”

Solar laughed. “ _ I’d like to think so.” _

_ “ _ Out of curiosity, is there any Tenno that don’t develop such quick attachments?”

“ _ Flower, definitely. But probably because she has Shale. Flick, sort of. He still got attached to Tin.” _

_ “ _ He knows Tin? I met Tin! The little guy’s nice.” 

“ _ Yep, technically, Tin’s his warframe.” _

_ “ _ Do you know when I can be introduced to everyone else in the clan?” Niphit asked. She was genuinely curious, Mae had lead her through the place quite quickly.

“ _ Flick said that we had to keep you constrained to only visiting a few rooms until Shale and some of the other frames calm down, but he didn’t say anything about bringing other people to you. So, yes.”  _ Solar chirped

“Do you know anyone who might be fun?” Niphit asked she was exited. Only a few people had talked to her so far.

“ _ Of course. You’ve gotten quite the reputation already, although strange rumors are normal for this station.” _

“How soon can you bring someone in?” Niphit was practically bouncing in front of Solar.

“ _ I think Redd has spare time soon. She’s this station’s proper medic.” _

“Thanks!” Niphit quickly hugged Solar, she assumed that it was the right gesture, then returned her attention to the foundry as it made a noise. Solar chuckled under his breath.

“ _ I should get Redd. be back in a few!”  _ Solar waved. Niphit made a noise acknowledging him but was focused on the Foundry.

  
  
  


Redd was attending to her usual business when Solar wandered in. 

“ _ You do know that I’m supposed to be working? I shift out in a few minutes.”  _ Redd sighed. The Trinity did enjoy Solar’s company, but she also had things to do.

“ _ Well, Niphit wanted me to introduce her to new-”  _ Solar started

“ _ The sentient you adopted?”  _ Redd asked.

“ _ I didn’t adopt her! She just needs someone to keep an eye on her, that’s all.” _

Redd sighed again. “ _ That’s what you said when you adopted Spring.”  _ Solar paused but decided that the mention of his late tenno wasn’t malicious.

“ _ Ok, so, maybe I feel like adopting Niphit. So what?”  _ Solar responded.

“ _ Nothing. Heck, her bio family is probably dead anyway. And yes, I will visit her in a few minutes. could you hand me that bag?”  _ Solar did as Redd said.

“ _ What’s it for?”  _ Solar asked. Redd sighed.

“ _ Flower got into a spat with her Void Demon again.” _

_ “I wish I knew what those were.” _

_ “Don’t we all?” _

  
  


It was about twenty minutes later when Solar appeared again. A Trinity, who must be Redd, followed him.

“ _ You’re Niphit, right?”  _ The Trinity asked, “ _ I’m Redd.” _

“Yes! Nice to meet you!” Niphit said, “so you work in the med bay?”

“ _ I sure do. Nice to see a cute little thing like you not get absolutely totaled by life, that happens far too often.”  _ Redd chirped.

“I know what I’m doing,” Niphit responded, the proceded make a weird chirping noise when the room’s pressure automatically adjusted.

“ _ You’ll get used to it,”  _ Solar reassured Niphit.

“Sentient ships don’t change pressure, or at least not as loudly.” Niphit sighed.

“ _ Maybe figuring out loud pressure will be your first contribution,”  _ Redd mused “ _ New tenno get startled by that too, and a jumpy Operator is never good.” _

“Huh. what frightens them about it?” Niphit asked.

“The noise makes them think that a part of the ship has been breached,” Solar explained. Niphit mused it.

“If I could see what the pressure valve is right now…” she pondered. Outside, there were some scuffling noises, and someone called Redd’s name.

“ _ Have to go, Bone’s defense party must have gotten back,”  _ Redd said.  _ ‘Bye! Stay safe!”  _ and with that Redd left the room.

“She seems busy.”

“ _ Yeah, she’s the only proper medic. So, what did you make?” _

“It’s just a basic snare trap. Only thing I had blueprints for on hand.” Niphit said as she took the trap off of the Foundry. “I’ll need to figure out how to make stuff that works with Origin tech.” 

_ “I could ask Mae to get some blueprints from missions if that would help,” _ Solar asked.

“That would be great!” Niphit hugged Solar again.

“ _ If you need anything else, just ask”  _ Solar chirped, patting Niphit on the head. “ _ I’m watching out for you.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Niphit gets a break from the angst!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niphit loses a Roomba only to witness tenno being literal children.

It had been a month since Niphit got the lab. She didn’t meet many people, but she did work on projects and adapting sentient tech to Origin System tech. It was… painful, to say the least. Mae had briefly stopped by to drop off some local blueprints, and after crafting them, Niphit was frequently left frustrated trying to modify it. Everything was complicated, with wires and circuits. Sentient tech were normally made of biomass, formed into springs with a core stuck somewhere in it. Not these, though. Niphit planted her face into the work table as another attempt to modify a domestic went up in sparks. Niphit looked to the side, at a potted lunar pitcher. One of the Tenno in Talon clan station had been spending a bit more time on Lua, and Solar brought back a plant. Niphit enjoyed its presence. Sometimes, she explained what she was doing to the plant. Niphit opened the domestic drone back up, carefully plucking some biomass aside. Using one claw, Niphit popped the drone’s battery out. She set the battery aside, inspecting the charred ports. The black markings just wiped off, which was good. Niphit took the bit of biomass she had set aside and placed it over the power ports, holding her hand over it, willing it into shape. After that, Niphit put the battery back into place. Carefully, she placed the domestic drone on the ground and switched it on. The drone didn’t short circuit, however, Niphit didn’t think it would be so fast. The drone proceeded to drive right out the lab, and into the station. Niphit sighed. She called Mae up on communications device in the room.

“Domestic drone on the loose.” Niphit sighed. Mae practically doubled over from laughing.

“There’s a what on the loose?” Mae managed through chuckles.

“A domestic drone mixed with Tau tech. It’s my first successful experiment and I don’t want it to get crunched by a warframe.”

“I give you permission to hunt down your fancy vacuum. Take a look around while you're at it.”

“Got it, thanks, I need a map, help” Niphit stammered, realizing that her drone was gaining distance. She had expected her finally leaving the lab to be a bit different, but this was good too. Niphit sprinted after the drone.

“ _ What’s happening?”  _ Solar asked, watching Niphit scramble after a cleaning drone.

“Oh, uh, my first creation escaped.” Niphit said, watching the drone.

“ _ You don’t have controle?”  _ Solar asked.

“No! I just made it self-chargeing, and faster, and a bit stronger, and I couldn’t control it even if I wanted caus’ I don’t have sentient cores!” Niphit scrambled around, blocking the drone’s path. Solar was trying and failing, to suppress laughter.

“ _ Did you make a beast that you couldn’t controle?”  _ Solar asked playfully. Niphit cursed as the drone veered in an unexpected direction.

“Yes!” Niphit squeaked as the domestic drone evaded her grasp yet again.

“ _ Would you like help?”  _ Solar was still laughing but had calmed down a bit.

“Also yes!” Niphit said. The domestic drone had escaped yet again. Solar walked over.

“ _ Now, if warframes were allowed to use abilities indoors, this would be easyer.”  _

“Ooo, a thing!” Shale jumped as her operator suddenly bolted. 

“ _ A what?”  _ Shale asked. Flower was following a domestic drone. 

“A thing!” Flower said happily. “Can we name it? I’m going to call it Bob.” 

“ _ We are not adopting random boxes on wheels off the street!”  _ Shale chirped. 

“Says the warframe who took a stray tenno off the streets.” Flower quiped back. 

“ _ I appreciate your enthusiasm, but that’s Niphit’s street box”  _ O, one of Mae’s warframes, chirped. “ _ Mae told me to find it.” _

_ “Of course! Why wouldn’t it be?” _ Shale sighed.

“Edge lord.” Flower snarked. Shale sighed again.

“ _ Oh, hey,”  _ Solar panted as he ran up. Niphit sprinted up behind him.

“Apologies for the inconvenience,” Niphit noticed Shale, and prepared to duck behind Solar. “My drone has a mind of its own.”

“As I can see.” Flower responded. She seemed less concerned about Niphit and more about balancing on top of the drone. Her warframe, on the other hand, was glaring daggers at Niphit. Niphit shrunk behind Solar.

“This looks like too much fun I’m joining you.” Mae said as she materialized in front of O. Flower scooched forwards and Mae sat behind Flower. The three warframes and one sentient watched the two in silence.

“ _ Well, that’s a first.”  _ Shale broke the silence. 

“ _ Barly, I’ve seen Salt do it all the time.”  _ Solar responded.

“Riding cleaning robots is normal?” Niphit asked, “those are for cleaning.”

“ _ Well, never stopped them befor.”  _ O remarked. The mount and its trusty riders turned a corner.

“ _ I would be snide and rude right now, but I am genuinely too confused and mildly concerned,”  _ Shale said.

“ _ Flower’s going to be fine. Mae’s watching her.”  _ Solar said reashuringly.

“Do Tenno like domestic drones?” Niphit asked.

“ _ Yes,”  _ O responded. “ _ I believe Tenno Lark is quite a fan of their domestic drone, named it and everything.” _

_ “Doesn't Lark make the sweaters?”  _ Shale asked, “ _ when I’m finally allowed to keep my own credits I'm going to commission one.” _

_ “Yeah, I think Lark makes the sweaters.”  _ Solar chirped.

“How many Tenno are even on this station?” Niphit asked.

_ “Twenty-eight, last I checked _ .” O responded. “ _ Operators, that is. Something like fifty warframes? I don’t remember.” _

“I don’t know how big of a station that is comparitivly,” Niphit said.

_ “Well, Mae just sent a message saying that the domestic drone is popular, even as Operator entertainment,”  _ O spoke suddenly.

“ _ That’s good.” _ Solar chirped.

“ _ Welp, I’d better fetch Flower befor she kills a small city or something. Cya!”  _ Shale sprinted off. Niphit, Solar, and O stood in more awkward silence.

“ _ If it’s not to personal, might I ask why you left the Tau system?”  _ O said after more strange silence.

“Oh, don’t worry! I left caus’ I got lonely. and sad. bit of both I like it here more though!” Niphit said happly. 

“ _ Well, that’s good. I’d hate to know you didn’t like where you are.”  _ Solar chirped back.

“ _ Mae wants to know if you’d like to go on a mission soon.”  _ O chirped, “ _ somehow she’s already mannaged to schedule something.” _

“Of course! That’ll be awesome! I haven’t seen any of this system yet!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MASSIVE thank you to everyone who has left comments or kudos, those really help me write this! Apologies if it ends too early for some people, but there will be more Niphit development in the sequel and I have trouble writing lighthearted. There will be an epilogue, but it will be short and transition into my next project.


	7. Epilogue

Of course, the mission wasn’t normal. Solar and Tin where with Niphit, but they didn’t quite know what was going on either. They murmured between each other, and Niphit caught glimpses of some kind of shadow here and there. 

“Solar, what is this?” Niphit asked. she was on edge.

“ _ An emergency retrieval mission on Lua,”  _ Solar paused, “ _ expect heavy resistance.” _

_ “ _ From what?” Niphit asked. The Orbiter swerved.

“ _ Sentient. Niphit, this is a loyalty test.”  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who read, it was awsome writing this!

**Author's Note:**

> Mae is my brother's tenno, used with permission.


End file.
